The Camp on Blood Island

Emperor Hirohito's radio address announces Japan's surrender, signaling the end of the Pacific War. The date is August 15, 1945. However, the news has not yet reached the Blood Island prisoner-of-war camp, where the Japanese commandant plans to massacre the prisoners if Japan surrenders.

Colonel Lambert learns of the surrender news but chooses not to inform the majority of the prisoners. He believes the prisoners must prevent the Japanese from learning the truth. The knowledge gap creates a dangerous tension as the camp leadership schemes to counter any disclosure.

Lambert orders the sabotage of the Japanese radio to block the transmission from reaching the outside world. He also sends Dr. Robert Keiller to reach a Malay village so partisans can relay a message to the Allies. The plan is risky and sets off a chain of dangerous reprisals.

The efforts to hide the truth provoke savage reprisals from the Japanese guards. The prisoners fear harsher punishments and executions as punishment for any attempted communication. The tension inside the camps escalates rapidly.

A U.S. Navy plane crashes onto Blood Island and a pilot, Lt. Commander Peter Bellamy, flags down a Japanese truck. He cannot communicate with the Japanese to reveal that the war is over. Dr. Keiller survives long enough to urge discretion about the surrender.

The truck stops at the women's camp, and Keiller is shot dead. Bellamy is present but cannot reveal the truth. The brutal casualty further narrows the chances of quickly informings the outside world.

The captured Bellamy is brought back to the men's camp with Keiller's body. He is questioned and beaten by the Japanese but refuses to disclose the existence of surrender. His testimony remains secret and the Allies remain unaware of the war's end.

Father Paul Anjou tries to pass a message through Mrs. Beattie so Mrs. Keiller can be at the water tower at midnight. The plan is thwarted when the person Anjou buries turns out to be Mrs. Beattie, preventing delivery of the message. The blackout keeps the prisoners in the dark about the war's end.

Bellamy and Dutch escape from a working party and trigger the beheading of six hostages. They overpower a truck driver with dispatches and steal the vehicle as they race toward safety. The brutality heightens as the camp braces for harsher retaliation.

The escapees attempt to reach the Malay village to alert the Allies, but the route remains uncertain. Bellamy and Mrs. Keiller eventually make it to the Malay village to alert the Allies, completing one of the few lines of contact with resistance.

Back at the camp, Lambert informs the NCOs and orders the men to arm themselves with small weapons. The decision reflects the urgency to resist potential Japanese attempts to recapture prisoners. The tension continues as the outside help is still not confirmed.

The next day, the Japanese return six more prisoners to be executed, including Major Dawes from the officers' hut. The execution underscores the brutal stakes of the prisoners' clandestine fight for survival. The bodies are recovered to demonstrate the consequences of resistance.

Beattie persuades Sakamura to lead him to Yamamitsu, intending to deliver critical information. Instead, Beattie triggers a grenade that kills both Sakamura and Yamamitsu, dramatically shifting the balance of power. The act intensifies the prisoners' resolve to resist.

Lambert loses a close ally when Tom Shields seizes a machine gun in a tower; Lambert fires a grenade into the tower, killing Shields and scattering the Japanese defenders. Allied paratroopers finally arrive, tipping the balance in favor of the prisoners. The camp erupts into a bloody but decisive fight.

The women's camp is taken without a shot fired, sparing the women and children from massacre. The remaining prisoners are freed or accounted for as Allied paratroopers secure the island. Despite heavy casualties, the survivors are saved and the war's end becomes reality for those left behind.